Dance Commentary and Reviews by Heather Desaulniers, freelance dance critic, former dancer and choreographer, PhD in dance history.

Monday, October 26, 2015

"Arcane: A Tale of All Hallows' Eve"

Company C Contemporary Ballet in Arcane: A Tale of All Hallows’ EvePhoto: Jorge Alejandro Gomez

Company C Contemporary
Ballet

Arcane: A Tale of All Hallows’ Eve

Cowell Theater, Fort
Mason, San Francisco

October 25th,
2015

It’s been exactly a year
and a half to the day since I’ve seen Company C Contemporary Ballet in
performance. In that time, the company has gone through a major overhaul, with
a shift in its production model being perhaps the biggest change. Instead of a
typical fall and spring season, Company C opted to move to a more
project-driven system. For the first of these projects, Artistic Director
Charles Anderson went all in - Arcane: A
Tale of All Hallows’ Eve premiered this weekend at Fort Mason and runs
until the 31st.

Arcane
is a brand new one-act narrative ballet, a Halloween story by Ben Bowman and
Anderson. It is an ensemble work, complete with principal dancers, a corps and
a children’s cast. An original score by Mike Krisukas is played by a live
orchestra, conducted by Mary Chun; the stage is filled with phenomenal design
elements – costumes by Laura Hazlett, lights and scenery by Patrick Toebe. And
a narrator, John Hale, frames the action throughout.

The ballet follows the
Halloween night sojourn of its title character, Arcane, a celestial being
danced at this performance by Phyllis Affrunti. Using dance and text, a
collection of short scenes relays her travel - those she meets, the scenes she
encounters, the events she creates through her spellbinding forces. She is
joined by an astrologer. We are told that he is Arcane’s human proxy, though that
part of the story gets a little lost and so the astrologer comes across as more
of a traveling companion.

Arcane
was a little slow getting going, but by the third vignette, the cast had hit
their stride. As Arcane and the astrologer, Affrunti and Taurean Perez did very
well, especially navigating their complicated, and sometimes busy, choreography.
But the most impressive group of dancers was the corps, who in a single hour
had to embody so many different characters (stars, pumpkins, ghouls,
skeletons), each with unique choreography and complex costumes. In fact, my
favorite variation was the orphan trio of Alice Cao, Alysia Chang and Colleen
Soltys. Technically, sharp relevés and échappés met expansive turns and waltz
steps. And the three were spot on in their character portrayal.

A number of other
standout moments deserve particular mention. As Arcane’s journey occurred over
a single night, different clock motifs were crucial to the ballet’s storyline. Anderson’s
take on time was incredibly innovative and clever. The light show duet halfway
through absolutely thrilled the audience. It was cool and different, but for
me, went on a little too long. At the beginning of the Halloween ball scene,
there was a lively dance for the entire group – quirky movement side by side
with traditional ballet. Though in instances like this one when the whole cast
was present, the Cowell Theater stage appeared a bit small. It looked like they
didn’t quite have enough room for some of the extensions and traveling steps.

Company C Contemporary
Ballet’s Arcane: A Tale of All Hallows’
Eve is entertaining, fun and very fitting for the end of October. Though
there are a few darker moments (like the dead bride dance), overall, it is a
family-friendly way to access contemporary ballet this Halloween season.